![]() ![]() Wilcox: The chutoro is getting around toward the side of the tuna, and it doesn't have the striations of fat, but it still has fat within the red of the meat, so you get a mix of fat and red. And depending on where it's from, and where the fish was raised, the price can vary anywhere from $10 a piece to upwards of $80. Otoro is the fattiest part of the tuna outside of the head and collar area. It's also small, and it requires a lot of labor to peel off the silver skin. You know, you buy a side of beef, it's all the same, but once you break it down, the filet ends up being the most expensive part, because it's the most desirable. This piece came from Boston, and was caught the previous day. Narrator: Here's what one quarter looks like when it's delivered. Wilcox: If you imagine a tuna as like a torpedo, they'll split it into quarters lengthwise, cut off the head, and the collar, and we will take one of the two belly quarters. Narrator: And the different parts of a bluefin tuna also vary drastically in price. That first tuna of the year always goes for the highest price that any tuna will go for the whole rest of the year. Wilcox: In Japanese culture, that first thing you do all year is the most important. And the first fish of 2018 sold for $323,000. Which is partly why the 489-pound tuna sold for $1.8 million in 2013. Mostly as a symbolic gesture, or a publicity stunt. Narrator: The first auction of the year in Japan is when you'll see ridiculously high prices for fish. Fish that's more sought after, that's caught in a better place, that's handled better, that's clearly better quality will go for a higher price, and that fisherman will get more of the money. Whereas in Japan, it's going from the fisherman, usually to a collective or cooperative, to the government that's running the auction, to a middle wholesaler, to a final wholesaler, to a restaurant or a hotel.Īll high-end fish are auctioned in Japan. Wilcox: We get like a Boston bluefin, it goes from the fisherman, to the distributor, to our door. So there's less damage and more precise cutting. Narrator: Wilcox says the fish is also handled better in Japan than the US. Wilcox: There's more hands that it passes through in Japan, which is not necessarily a bad thing. Narrator: Besides its superior fat content, another reason fish is more expensive from Japan is that it has further to travel, and it goes through a rather lengthy process before making its way to your plate. Which means by the time it gets here, it'll cost close to $400 a pound. Wilcox: Peak-season Oma tuna will, in Japan, cost 400-450 a kilo. But it's the tuna that comes from Oma in Japan that's widely considered to be some of the best in the world. While Boston tuna is best during summer and fall. Narrator: According to Wilcox, tuna from Japan is better than American tuna during the peak winter months. ![]() You could be paying north of $200 a pound for bluefin from Japan. A local bluefin on the east coast will run anywhere between $20 and $40 a pound. Wilcox: It completely depends upon where you get it from, but it's never cheap. Narrator: A large adult bluefin can weigh around 450 pounds or more, and the price of the fish varies based on a number of different factors. ![]() Bluefin also, when it's aged properly, has a particular balance of flavors. Wilcox: Bluefin is the most sought after. There are several different varieties of tuna, but bluefin is what you're most likely to find at high-end sushi restaurants. They get their tuna from a number of different sources, including Japan's Tsukiji fish market. Restaurants like Shoji serve raw bluefin tuna, or what's called kuro maguro in Japanese. He was trained in Japan and worked there for more than 10 years. Narrator: Derek Wilcox is a chef at Shoji, a Japanese restaurant in New York. And if you wanna try some, it's gonna cost you.ĭerek Wilcox: We could buy tuna from Japan that we'd have to charge maybe $80 for one piece of otoro. There's only one type of tuna in the world that grows that big, bluefin tuna. And they certainly don't weigh 489 pounds. ![]() They're small, grow fast, and are abundant for fishing. Canned tuna typically comes from albacore. So, what's the difference?įor starters, it's not the same fish. But you can buy a can of tuna fish at the grocery store for under $2. Narrator: In 2013, a 489-pound tuna sold for a whopping $1.8 million. Account icon An icon in the shape of a person's head and shoulders. ![]()
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